[Spells: Blade Barrier, Disintegrate; Charisma: +2; Feat: Ability Score Improvement (Strength +2); Arcane Bloodline: Transcendent Form II; Metamagic Enhancement: Enhanced Heighten Spell. Confirm?]
"Confirm!"
Anser's bloodline power surged. In an instant, he transformed into his half-dragon form, floating silently in the center of the room. Magic power roared through his body, and waves of radiance rippled outward around him.
He had long since adapted to this transformation. His mind sank completely into his innate magic.
Time slipped away unnoticed.
After an unknown length of time, his mind suddenly stirred, and his awareness returned to reality.
Clenching his fists, he felt as though he were overflowing with power. His vitality was so vigorous it seemed ready to burst into flame.
'The changes are significant.'
He inspected his condition, paying particular attention to the effects brought by Transcendent Form II.
The appearance of his dragon wings had not changed much, but his flight speed had increased noticeably. Even without the aid of Fly, he could now rival an air elemental.
Converted into conventional measurements, his cruising speed in still air exceeded 81 kilometers per hour—faster than most birds. His diving attacks, meanwhile, were two to three times faster than before.
His Armor Class increased by another point, and the duration of his Transcendent Form extended to one hour. Other changes were relatively minor.
Although the enhanced Transcendent Form II was no longer as astonishing as when he had first obtained it, the upgrade was still well worth it.
The higher an ability rose, the harder it became to improve further. If he wanted a single trump card that remained effective forever, then that trump card had to be exceptional.
After leveling up, his Hit Points had climbed to 178, comparable to those of a young gold dragon.
His Magic Power had reached 213, further improving his endurance.
The greatest change, however, was his Charisma score.
With 25 Charisma, he could effortlessly control all of his innate magic. Simple cantrips felt almost instantaneous, as natural as eating or drinking.
This transformation was far more significant than a simple increase in damage.
'The greatest weakness of those Chosen should be their attributes.'
Some divine powers could break the normal attribute limits, but increasing attributes was extremely difficult. There was no way those Chosen could catch up to him in the short term.
Now that the divinity was no longer within him, Anser actually felt much more at ease.
The future was still long. He needed to stay away from the center of the storm and avoid becoming cannon fodder in this conflict of faiths.
'Now I can finally act without worrying.'
As he thought this, he was about to close his character sheet when he noticed a wizard spell he had learned long ago but never once used:
Find Familiar.
At first, he had lacked the necessary materials. Later, he simply felt no need for a familiar, since he could already summon the four elemental spirits and draconic essences.
Find Familiar could summon a celestial, fey, or fiendish spirit, which would typically assume the form of an animal and serve its caster.
Under normal circumstances, a caster could have only a single familiar. Familiars were generally weak, with limited combat ability, but they had one major advantage—they were obedient.
Of course, these restrictions existed because of the spell's built-in rules. The purpose was to ensure a targeted summoning and eliminate accidents, preventing dangerous extraplanar creatures from being called forth.
Anser possessed the ability to loosen those restrictions slightly, or even transform a willing creature directly into a familiar.
For example, the little Microraptor that had completely embraced freedom in Holrewen.
'Let's give it a try. It would be a waste not to make use of this extraordinary Charisma.'
He focused and began casting.
Strange waves spread outward in every direction, probing the surrounding void and even reaching into other planes.
The process itself was not particularly complicated.
In some ways, it resembled the method he had used to "seduce" Nornoth back then.
The difference was that the previous ritual had been restricted to finding a mount, whereas this one was far less demanding.
Time passed second by second. Every so often, a confused spirit or extraplanar creature would respond to his summons and establish a telepathic connection with him.
Anser remained unmoved and continued waiting.
Fifteen minutes later, another curious mind established contact with him.
The sensation felt extremely familiar.
His heart stirred, and he immediately locked onto the target. In any case, familiars could be replaced at any time, so the cost of trial and error was minimal.
The next second, a draconic creature about the size of a large housecat, covered from head to tail in reddish-brown scales, stepped through an unknown stretch of space and appeared before him.
It looked like a cross between a red dragon and a wyvern.
'Not a spirit. This is a pseudodragon!'
Anser's eyes lit up.
Pseudodragons dwell in scenic wildernesses and particularly favor places where prey is easy to catch and life is comfortable.
Like true dragons, they live at their own leisurely pace. They build small nests among ancient trees and cliff faces, decorating them with luminous stones, colorful shells, and ownerless treasures, all of which they guard with great care.
Most pseudodragons are Neutral Good. They are relatively intelligent and possess keen minds as well as Magic Resistance. As a result, spellcasters regard them as ideal familiars. In certain circles, keeping a pseudodragon is even considered a symbol of status.
'Nice. Very nice.'
Of course Anser had heard of pseudodragons.
While a pseudodragon was not particularly powerful, it was still far superior to most spirits that could be summoned as familiars.
'Hello. I'm your master, Anser.'
Using the telepathic bond between familiar and master, Anser spoke to the pseudodragon.
The pseudodragon let out a rough purring sound. Excitement shone in its eyes as it leaped onto Anser's shoulder and transmitted a wave of happiness through their connection.
'My name is Rex.'
Anser laughed and began chatting with it.
Rex was quite intelligent. It could understand both Common and Draconic, and it had a lively, mischievous personality.
However, pseudodragons were also known for their capricious nature. If their preferences and emotional needs were ignored for too long, they might simply abandon their master and leave.
Although a pseudodragon was not particularly strong, it had many practical uses as a familiar.
First was the telepathic bond. In this regard, pseudodragons were superior to ordinary spirits. Combined with Anser's exceptionally high Intelligence, their telepathic range exceeded two kilometers. Within that distance, he could switch his sight and hearing to his familiar's senses.
Second, a familiar could assist in combat.
He could use it to deliver touch-range spells, such as Jump.
Beyond that, he could also share the pseudodragon's Magic Resistance trait, which was extremely useful.
'Not bad at all.'
Anser directed his consciousness inward and immediately discovered an additional character card on the die.
Opening it revealed Rex's status panel.
'Just as I thought. If it has a character card, it can level up!'
His mood brightened considerably as he stared at the level section.
Rex's attributes were fairly ordinary. Its highest score was only 15 Dexterity, followed by 13 Constitution and 10 Intelligence.
However, it possessed Blindsight, Darkvision, Magic Resistance, a Sting attack, and exceptionally fast flight. Its potential was considerable. With proper training, it should make an excellent support companion.
'Quite a rewarding gain.'
Anser left Holrewen with the pseudodragon.
By the time he returned to Fort Jacqueline, night had already fallen across the land.
Brunhilde was chatting with Iris. The moment she saw Anser, her eyes narrowed, and uncertainty flickered across her face.
"What did you do? Why isn't it reacting anymore?"
"Who knows?" Anser shrugged and chose not to tell her the truth.
Something like devouring divinity was best kept as quiet as possible. Besides, not knowing was a perfectly reasonable explanation. Perhaps the deity had simply reclaimed its divinity.
After all, divinity was extremely precious even to the gods themselves. It wasn't something they would waste for no reason.
Brunhilde looked unconvinced and was about to continue questioning him when Iris interrupted, pulling both of them toward the dining hall for dinner.
Iris always had impeccable judgment when it came to boundaries. She never pried into his secrets.
Despite the fact that they had already shared a bed, she had never once made any demands of him.